The Irish That Brought Us The Music

Fri Mar 02, 2018

When you ask someone what they think of you mention Irish music, most will say things like Molly Malone or Black Velvet Band or some other traditional Irish folk song. But although England and Liverpool, in particular, are front and center on the British Invasion front, there was a lot going on in Ireland as well.

In Ireland in the 1960’s there were what were called Showbands, groups of performers who played at dancehalls and clubs putting on a show and playing repertoires that included all the American and British hits of the day. Pretty much if you wanted to be a professional musician in Ireland Show bands was the chosen route. Irishman like Van Morrison, Henry McCullough and Rory Gallagher worked in Irish Showbands who would later become rock stars. Van Morrison achieved international success in the 1960s with the group, Them and the hit “Gloria” before launching a huge solo career.

BTW- Hearing Trees, Devin Cuddy Band, Richard Shindell, Five Alarm Funk, Iskwé, Len Mizzoni

Fri Mar 02 2018
Hearing Trees Photo Credit Greg Gallinger

Could the third one be the charm? Winnipeg indie rockers Hearing Trees are following up their previous 2 EP releases with a 3rd release and debut full-length album Quiet Dreams on March 2nd. The lyric video for the first single 'Telling Peter' premiering on Exclaim.ca and in support of the new album, Hearing Trees will be embarking on a lengthy Cross-Canada Tour starting March 2nd in Regina.

Hearing Trees existed before frontman Graham Hnatiuk had ever picked up a guitar or penned a single lyric. Even as just an apparition in his mind’s eye, Hnatiuk’s musical vision essentially saved his sanity, maybe even his life. And now, with the release of their debut LP, Quiet Dreams, the creative seeds sown years ago have come to full fruition.

Liona Boyd No Remedy for Love

Fri Feb 23, 2018

Liona Boyd has lived the kind of life that most folks only dream of. She has performed around the world for kings and queens and world leaders, been awarded the Order of Canada and inducted into the Guitar Gallery of Greats, sold millions of albums, won five Juno awards and was romantically involved with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The long-awaited sequel to Liona’s memoir, "In My Own Key", "No Remedy For Love" is a must-have for Liona Boyd fans and music lovers.

We caught up with Liona at her winter home in Palm Beach where she was enjoying the warm weather. “Life is good. I couldn’t be happier. I’m enjoying my home and being creative, writing songs and playing music. I’ve been very fortunate my whole life to achieve what I’ve achieved and still have so much more to do. I love it here in Florida, I do my yoga and I’ve rediscovered bike riding. Keeps me fit. I can still wear the same size clothes I wore in University.”

BTW - Kayla Diamond, Ought, Triathlon, Snowblink, Elk Run & Riot, Reuben and The Dark

Fri Feb 23 2018
Kayla Diamond

Near lawyer turned pop chanteuse Kayla Diamond has dropped a new video for her uplifting single "What You're Made Of' via PopDust .

Following Kayla from childhood through to adulthood, the video tells the story of her journey from a young girl who dreamed of being a songwriter and performer to a fully realized musician and singer. The video also serves as a loving tribute to her family, whose unwavering support made the realization of her dream a reality.

New Kaytrnada-Produced Single Featuring Jazz Cartier Signs To Last Gang Records

Fri Feb 23 2018
Come Inside

Fluidly combining hip-hop and ethereal electronic beats, Montreal's Lou Phelps is the biggest rapper in his city. Skating over a candy-colored disco-funk instrumental courtesy of Lou's brother, KAYTRANADA, Lou Phelps turns on his charm on his latest single, Come Inside. This is his first release as a new signee to Last Gang Records worldwide.

Effortlessly stacking syllables, Lou tells a story about meeting a girl and taking her out for a good time: "Met her at the strip club, she was a freelancer/Told me to give me her sign, she was a Cancer/Dancing for the dollars at the damn club/Strippin' for these n*ggas that we wouldn't even dare touch/She knows I ain't trippin' over damn thugs/She was a mama bear--I was her damn cub." Premiered by Complex, the song features a standout verse from fellow Canadian, Jazz Cartier, who has a blast stringing together flashy punchlines over the club-ready sonics.

Felix Cartal Sends A Meaningful Message With "Runaway" Ft. Regn

Fri Feb 23 2018
Felix Cartal Photo Credit Trevor Brady

Felix Cartal teamed up with vocalist REGN for his stunning new track "Runaway" on Physical Presents, and it will resonate deeply with listeners on and off the dancefloor. "Runaway" carries power in REGN's passionate voice and angsty lyrics that are perfectly complemented by Cartal's moody piano melodies and deep, groovy basslines; it delivers a message that is rebellious but also encouraging in its authenticity. The single will appear on his forthcoming full-length album due later this year.

Marshall Potts Out Here

Fri Feb 16, 2018

The society we live in and especially the music community is built on the conception that it’s essential to keep moving, always pushing through adversity and obstacles. Although this is true for the most part occasionally that action causes an artist to push ahead without taking time to see what else is around him or her. That was the case with Kamloops singer/songwriter Marshall Potts. Not to the point of harm but just not taking time to stop and smell the roses. It took a life-changing event to let Marshall reset his compass. “ I donated a kidney and there were complications. I didn’t react well to the operation and it forced me to make changes in my diet, my stress level management and lifestyle changes in general.”

BTW-Grounders, Art of Time Ensemble/Leonard Cohen, Charlotte Day Wilson, Big Little Lions, RECOLLECTIV, The Coronas

Fri Feb 16 2018
Grounders

So you thought they were all used up and dumped in the garbage? Well, Grounders are back and gearing up to release sophomore LP Coffee & Jam on February 23 via Nevado Music. Get a taste of the LP with second single "Perfect".

First single, 'Bringin' It In' was released last fall and has since been climbing the CBC R3 charts. The Soporanos-esqe video casts the guys as java maniacs who will stop at NOTHING to get some Griz. Grounders will be playing a string of live dates throughout Ontario with label mates The Wooden Sky.

PARVATI: The Voice of Change

Fri Feb 09, 2018

From the dream of a whale to songs at the North Pole, to a vision of peace and a call to stand up for a healthy planet, the Toronto-based singer, producer and activist Parvati is transforming the world.

It’s been seven years since we last spoke to Parvati. At that time, she was just back from the North Pole where she gave the northernmost musical performance ever, to raise awareness of the melting polar ice. Since that interview, the political and environmental climates have changed radically. We have seen a spike in extreme human rights violations as well as unprecedented hurricanes, forest fires, famines, floods and droughts. Yet, Parvati says that with the advancement of technology and the speed at which our environment is changing, this is a pivotal moment in human history when we have never had a greater opportunity to come together as one Earth family. Whether it is by working alongside the United Nations, convincing global leaders to shift to sustainability or touching the hearts of the world through the pop music mainstream, Parvati is the voice of change.

BTW-Winterfolk XVI, Moon Taxi, Kim Churchill, I Hate You Just Kidding, Terra Lightfoot, Ellevator

Fri Feb 09 2018
Anne Lederman

The 16th Annual Winterfolk Blues and Roots Festival, taking place in Toronto February 16-18, 2018, is set to present the best of urban, blues, rock, jazz, country, folk and roots music, and will feature returning favourite artists as well as fresh new talent. It’s an all-ages, mid-winter, weatherproof event that emulates a multi-stage rural summer festival. More than 100 artists will be performing at four venues and five stages over three days of the long Family Day weekend. For more information on the festival, schedule and for updates, please visit www.winterfolk.com.

Winterfolk XVI featured performers include Borealis Records artists MOSE SCARLETT, who’s been on the Canadian music scene for more than 40 years, fiddler ANNE LEDERMAN, highly acclaimed Canadian folk, blues and gospel singer and multi-instrumentalist KEN WHITELEY, and award-winning singer-songwriter JON BROOKS.

Mt. Joy Releases Self-Titled Debut Album

Fri Feb 09 2018
Mt. Joy Releases Self-Titled Debut Album

February 7, 2018, Mt. Joy announced that NPR Music has selected them as the Slingshot Artist Spotlight for February. Mt. Joy will be featured on NPR partner stations throughout the month. The band has also announced a headlining spring tour, including Canadian dates in Vancouver and Toronto (full dates below). Mt. Joy’s self-titled debut album will be released on March 2nd via Dualtone, an Entertainment One company.

In little more than a year as a band, the LA-via-Philadelphia band has racked up over 15 million streams on Spotify, toured with The Shins, Whitney, The Head And The Heart and The Lone Bellow, and performed at Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, Made In America and Lollapalooza. Mt. Joy just wrapped up a North American tour with Neko Case, and they're set for highly anticipated appearances at SXSW, Shaky Knees, BottleRock, and more come spring.

Mt. Joy

BTW Ryan Hicks, The Olympic Symphonium, Rhye, Willie P. Bennett Tribute, The Coronas, Kim Doolittle, Lori Cullen

Fri Feb 02 2018
Ryan Hicks Photo Credit Ali Lauren

Regina-based singer/songwriter Ryan Hicks is set to release his 2nd full-length album February 9th, Video for the first single and title track 'Pulsing Colours’ is premiering exclusively on Live in Limbo.

Ryan Hicks makes melodic, cinematic alt-pop music which he describes as "if Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson and the Fleet Foxes made music for a David Lynch film". Since the release of his critically acclaimed debut album Prairie Ocean in 2014, Ryan has been hard at work on his sophomore release Pulsing Colours. The album is a concept record of all of the thoughts, moods and emotions that can come to us at night.

Pulsing Colours was inspired and written in tribute to Ryan’s stepmother, who took her own life in December 2014. Her loss made Ryan dig inward and look for meaning and his place in the world.

Andrew Cole #No Joke

Wed Feb 07, 2018

We caught up with Canadian born singer/songwriter at his home in California and he wants you to know he’s no joke, that nobody is a joke and bullying is not a joke. Every living person deserves respect and to be treated with dignity no matter what their station in life. Andrew was born in Toronto, Canada but he and his family left when he was only 6 months old for Liverpool, England. “I went to about 20 different schools and I was always a little different, an outsider. I’m not really sure why my parents moved around so much. Dad was a truck driver and Mum was a nurse so it wasn’t like their occupations required travel and relocating. But I remember always moving, I guess they were looking for the best place to be for me to grow. We had moved back to Canada and Mum decided I needed to get a British education so we moved back to the U.K. And so it went.”

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

Fri Feb 02 2018
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

"Hey Mama" the latest track from Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.The song appears on the band’s highly anticipated new album, Tearing at the Seams, out March 9th, 2018 on Stax Records. The record is available for pre-order here.

Recently, the band released their single, You Worry Me, to critical praise—Rolling Stone proclaims, “The first single from his forthcoming LP adds Southern-rock bite and weary longing to make for his most urgent song yet.”

The band has also added dates to their extensive North American tour. Tickets for the shows are on sale now at nathanielrateliff.com. See below for complete details.

Initial writing and recording sessions for Tearing at the Seams took place in Rodeo, New Mexico where Rateliff & The Night Sweats re-established their dynamic off the stage and in the studio. “For the first record I demo’ed everything up and created most of the parts,” says Rateliff. “This time, I felt like we’ve all spent so much time on the road that we should all go off somewhere together. We should all have that experience together.”

BTW- Cloud Castle Lake, The Confabulation, Cadence Weapon, Jim Andralis & The Syntonics, Mayhemingways, Rose Cousins

Fri Jan 26 2018
Cloud Castle Lake

Dublin neo folk rockers Cloud Castle Lake have a new video for their rousing single "Twins". Described by Stereogum, who premiered the video, as "heavy-hearted euphoria," "Twins" is perfectly complimented by the atmospheric and beautifully shot video, directed by Irish filmmaker Kenny Leigh in collaboration with the band.

"Nearly all of it was shot outdoors at Russborough House just as a hurricane was approaching, so towards the end of the day the weather got pretty hairy," explains the band's Brendan Jenkinson on the making of the video. "It was very unpleasant at the time but ended up working really well with the arc of the video. We wanted to capture the same mood and feel of dream sequences in 50s/60s European films. We found that, in a kind of counter-intuitive way, it really suited the music and gave a new dimension to the lyrics."

Leonard Cohen Honoured in Art of Time Ensemble Feb 22-24 Concert

Fri Jan 26 2018
Leonard Cohen

Art of Time Ensemble is proud to present A Singer Must Die, a concert in tribute to the legendary literary and musical icon Leonard Cohen. Running February 22 - 24 at Harbourfront Centre Theatre, this sublime concert features a range of acclaimed singers, authors and musicians in a program that focuses on both Cohen's music and his writings. Readings, anecdotes, and arrangements of his music in the signature Art of Time Ensemble style will make for an evening to remember.

Such celebrated writers as Giller Prize winners Michael Redhill and Madeleine Thien, The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Ian Brown, Barbara Gowdy, Christopher Dewdney, Marnie Jackson, David Macfarlane, Karen Solie, and more are some of the literary lions who will rotate throughout the three evenings to give readings of personal favourite passages, or share personal anecdotes of their encounters with Cohen and his writings.

Rosie & The Riveters Announce Sophomore Album Ms. Behave

Fri Jan 26 2018
Rosie and the Riveters Photo Credit Crystal Skrupski

Rosie & the Riveters never planned to get political. But opening a newspaper or watching the news these days made it impossible to see the status of women around the world and stay silent. The result is Ms. Behave - a 12-song collection of gritty, sultry, vintage-inspired folk anthems that paint a portrait of a woman’s voice in a man’s world. The Saskatoon trio is set to release the new album independently on April 6, 2018. The group is ready to engage a conversation with the lead single, "Let ‘em Talk", released on January 26, 2018. “I go high, they go low, Won’t let them run my show” - "Let ‘em Talk" draws its lyrics from years of people pleasing, holding back, and feeling small. The band will kick off their North American tour dates, ahead of the release, on March 24 in Philadelphia. Further info on the album and tour can be found at rosieandtheriveters.com.

I Just Called Him Dad Don Graham

Fri Jan 19, 2018

Singer/songwriter Don Graham has written hundreds of songs in his long career about dozens of subjects. He’s written songs about good love, bad love, lost love, unrequited love, songs about war, about his friends, about his travels and his mother and sisters. But one topic has eluded him all these years, until now. “I could never write a song about my Dad. I tried. But I didn’t want a ‘punch in the shoulder, good ole boy hey Pops song and I didn’t want a song about ‘my old man’. Dad hated that term. I wanted to write something from my heart like I’d done for Mum. So I made a deal with myself to try every Father’s Day to write a dad song. I had zero success until this year. “

On Father’s Day 2017, Don sat down with his guitar and being true to his promise to himself started to try and write a Dad song. “I figured I’d at least try. I started to play and the first two lines came and I liked them! Then within an hour, I had the whole song. All I could think at the time was – finally! ”

BTW- Lindi Ortega, Bear Call, Lori Cullen, Collette Savard, Harrow Fair, Yoke Lore, Beatrice Keeler, Don Graham

Fri Jan 19 2018
Lindi Ortega Photo Credit Kate Nutt

Happy New Year y'all. It's been said Lindi Ortega has ‘the pipes of Patsy Cline with the visual flair of Amy Winehouse,’ and she’s planning to kick off 2018 with a headline tour making stops across Canada and the US. With more than 30 dates on the books and additional ones sure to be added, the shows will feature a feisty, rockabilly mix “drenched in passion, heartache and country swagger,” claims Huffington Post. Additionally, fans can expect to hear new music from Ortega’s forthcoming concept LP, which was recently recorded at Battle Tapes studio in East Nashville.

Last Gang Records Releases Blood Album by Rhye

Fri Jan 19 2018
Rhye Photo Credit Genevieve Medow Jenkins

Today, RHYE releases Song for You, the latest track off their highly-anticipated sophomore album, BLOOD, due out February 2, 2018, via Last Gang Records. The song is available to stream and download here. BLOOD follows RHYE’s debut album, Woman, which was released in 2013 to wide critical acclaim. Fans who pre-order the album will receive instant downloads of Song for You, as well as previously released tracks, Count To Five, Taste, and Please.

“’Song for You’ was written for her. Listen to it in a way where it becomes your own,” shared RHYE frontman, Milosh. “It holds a lot of emotion and occupies a special place both in my heart and as the heart of this new album.”

Next month, RHYE will embark on a tour that will kick off on February 1st in Mexico City, and visit cities across North America, with stops in Montreal and Toronto in March, and Europe going into the spring.